The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Rockman 8

And the downward Spiral begins!

Actually, it's not so much a Spiral as it is a straight line plummeting to unknown depths. As if the Number 8 wasn't already an indication that this series was running a bit too long, then let it be the fact that the game kinda sucks.

For Megaman 8, the series took its first steps into the realm of 32 bits (wow!), as it was released on PSX AND Saturn (wow!), and to show off its newly acquired Powers, the Megaman series for the first time sported Anime Cutscenes (wow!)
And to be honest, they're not bad at all. Although they look rather dated by today's standards, they're really very decent, and they almost succeed at covering up the fact that Rockman games usually have crappy stories.

Of course Dr. Wily is involved again. I don't really know what happened at the end of Megaman 7, all we got to see was a burning building, but apparently, Dr. Wily has managed to escape unscathed and even more eager to conquer Earth than usual.
This time, there's an Evil Alien Energy which has made its way to Planet Earth, and Dr. Wily plans to use it for his own evil causes, and Megaman has to stop him.
Of course, Forte will be there to stand in his way, but he will get help from his "brother" Blues, and newcomer Duo, a mysterious robot who seems to know a lot about this strange Alien Energy stuff. So all the characters are here, there's 8 new bosses, Rush is back, Beat is back, it's like they were never gone before and as if you're playing the same game you were playing years ago, only not quite as good.

You see, for some reason, it just fails to get interesting. It's a bit boring.
Levels are bigger, there's plenty of hidden Bolts (enemies don't drop bolts anymore; there is now a finite number of very well hidden bolts, which is actually a slight improvement), but the level design is just not interesting. Music has reached an all-time low for the series, which is a disgrace, and its more childish than ever.
And let me say this: If you're going to play it, get the Japanese version. The voice acting is MUCH better (why does Dr. Light sound like Elmer Fudd in the English version!?), and there's actually more voice samples in the game as well.

In fact, if money is not an issue, try and find the Japanese Saturn version, since the Saturn version is MUCH improved, with extra boss battles and some Artwork.
Good luck finding it, though.
For the PSX version, which I played, a 7- seems enough. Only Die Hard fans need apply.

posted by Ingen! @ 11:03 AM